s and other common purposes, are
of very little value. For these reasons, they had suffered them to come
and go quietly. They did not wish to waste powder and lead upon them;
neither did they desire wantonly to destroy such harmless creatures.

Every evening, therefore, the quaggas had drunk at the vley and gone off
again, without exciting the slightest interest.

Not so upon this occasion. A grand design now occupied the mind of Von
Bloom. The troop of quaggas became suddenly invested with as much
interest as if it had been a herd of elephants; and the field-cornet had
started to his feet, and stood gazing upon them--his eyes sparkling with
pleasure and admiration.

He admired their prettily-striped heads, their plump well-turned bodies,
their light elegant limbs; in short, he admired everything about them,
size, colour, and proportions. Never before had quaggas appeared so
beautiful in the eyes of the vee-boer.

But why this new-born admiration for the despised quaggas?--for despised
they are by the Cape farmer, who shoots them only to feed his Hottentot
servants. Why had they so suddenly become such favourites with the
field-cornet? That you will understand by knowing the reflections that
were just then passing through his mind.

They were as follows:--

Might not a number of these animals be caught and broken in?--Why not?
Might they not be trained to the saddle?--Why not? Might they not serve
him for hunting the elephant just as well as horses?--Why not?

Von Bloom asked these three questions of himself. Half a minute served
to answer them all in the affirmative. There was neither impossibility
nor improbability in any of the three propositions. It was clear that
the thing could be done, and without difficulty.

A new hope sprang up in the heart of the field-cornet. Once more his
countenance became radiant with joy.

He communicated his thoughts both to the Bushman and "Bush-boys"--all of
whom highly approved of the idea, and only wondered that none of them
had thought of it before.

And now the question arose as to how the quaggas were to be captured.
This was the first point to be settled; and the four--Von Bloom himself,
Hans, Hendrik, and Swartboy,--sat deliberately down to concoct some plan
of effecting this object.

Of course they could do nothing just then, and the drove that had come
to drink was allowed to depart peacefully. The hunters knew they would
return on the morrow about the same hour;